A New Blade
by Newtinmpls
Summary: Short Morrowind based story. What happens when an idealistic Blade encounters not so pretty reality? Please note that Tyermaillin's gender has been changed, so this is a slightly AU story. Rated T for Caius/Tyermaillin. Started as a one shot.
1. Chapter 1

_Authors note:_

_This story is slightly AU, as I have always pictured Tyermaillin as a female. Oh well._

**Standard disclaimer: I do not own Morrowind, or any of the other wonderous creations of Bethesda Softworks, however I certainly lay claim to misspellings, mistakes, tweaks and characters of my own creation.**

She looked up at him, a slender Breton mage wearing a mis-matched collection of armor, most of it obtained from the bodies of people she'd had to call to justice. Her sword was another trophy, battered but well-kept. He d initially wondered at its utility. Tyermaillin, however, had noted the subtle enchantments she d woven into it, and after some discreet observations, had concluded them impressive for her relative inexperience.

Were it anyone else who had abruptly decided to travel cross-country, alone, in hostile territory, she would never have made it all the way to Balmorra.

"And that's where the wooden pier-things started. From where I was, you go past the two parallel brown-gold stone spires, and then there is a patch of Scathecrow near a couple of abandoned looking wooden buildings. Then beyond them up where the pier-things were in better repair, two-story stone buildings with circular upper levels, built like the ones in Caldera."

Caius Cossades stroked his chin thoughtfully. Her memory for landmarks was as accurate as her sense of direction was abominable. "That would be the Calderan Ebony Mines. It's held under an Imperial charter. One of the most important imports from Morrowind is ebony."

Tallis nodded unhappily. She twisted her hands where they rested in her lap. "But it said Slave shack two on the door."

Caius nodded again, finally understanding where this was going. "What did you see?" He asked neutrally.

Tallis continued in a soft toneless voice. "They use slaves in the mine. The people who say they are miners don t really do much work. She wrung her hands in her lap. I talked to them. I talked to all of them. They beat the slaves, and sometimes even burn them with spells. Nobody even thinks they are doing anything strange."

She wiped angrily at one eye. "I want to go back there and tell them that the Emperor is not going to tolerate this."

Caius held up a hand. "Tallis. The Emperor sends out his blades because he cannot be everywhere, and we do follow his commands. However if he has not given a direct command to do something, then we cannot just say that he has."

Tallis eyes widened in protest and shock. "He would not allow slavery in an Imperial mine."

"Nor do I say that he would. I merely caution you. You cannot say you are acting on orders."

Slowly she frowned. She looked down for a long time, and then finally asked. "Then what should I do?"

"You are a Blade, Tallesma D'Artagnan. You must do what you believe to be right."

In a soft whisper, almost too quietly to be heard, Tallis said. "When you act, do so with all your heart." The cadence made is obvious that she was quoting something.

"What?" Caius asked.

She shook her head. "Something from a dream." She looked calmer, more determined. "Okay, I can't just say a Blade did this or the Emperor ordered this."

"You can only imply it." Caius tone was encouraging.

She reached into the pouch at her belt, and pulled out a handful of coins. Picking carefully through them, she chose two of Imperial mint. "The dragon is the symbol of the Septims, right? So, say if someone was found with two coins, dragon side up, to pay for their passage to the underworld, it wouldn't say anything." She let her voice trail off.

Caius nodded. "It would imply."

She stood up. "Thank you." She said, and walked out.

As the door closed behind her, a slender form wrapped in a red and gold patterned silk comforter stepped out of the shadows of the room. White-gold hair tumbled down to the middle of her back. In fact she had been standing, un-noted for twenty minutes in what few shadows were cast by the single lamp hanging from above Caius table. This should not have been enough concealment, but then, Tyermaillin was a Blade Adept. She could have hidden a Betty netch in the shadow of a single falling racer plume.

"I believe," Tyermaillin said dryly, "That she is going to attempt to murder those she considers slavers."

Caius produced a slender ebony dagger that hadn't been obvious before, and began cleaning his nails. "The Calderan mine contract is held by the East Empire Trading company, which has consistently shorted taxes owed to his Imperial Majesty and fomented disrespect that in two instances stopped just short of outright rebellion. These issues have been costly, in several senses, to put to rest."

"Among the owners of the mine is a house Hlaalu noble, Odral Helvi, who besides being greedy and corrupt in general, has deliberately falsified records, and murdered one of my Blades in the process of winning the mining contract. The loser was Garisa Llethri, a Redoran councilman who did most of the work of negotiating, including a gentleman's agreement to forswear slave labor within the mine itself."

Tyermalllin raised a delicate eyebrow. "I note that you failed to mention any of these details to the little one."

Caius shrugged. "Tallis will free the slaves, she'll finish the slavers, and she'll not loot the Emperor's ebony. This is exactly what needs to happen."

The golden elf looked thoughtfully at the door by which Tallis had departed. "Do you know all your Blades this well, I wonder?"

Caius set aside the dagger and reached for her. "I try to." His voice was low.

She laughed, and let the comforter fall away.


	2. Chapter 2

_Authors note: I first encountered the Morrowind universe as an RPG (long story), and possibly to inhibit abuse of the guild guides by PC's the DM decreed that the side effect was the nauseatingly violent loss of everything you'd eaten in the last day or so. So yeah, with magical travel in this version of Morrowind, there is no free lunch. So to speak._

**Standard disclaimer: I do not own Morrowind, or any of the other wonderous creations of Bethesda Softworks, however I certainly lay claim to misspellings, mistakes, tweaks and characters of my own creation.**

Caius Cosades rose up on his left elbow to better examine the sleeping altmer woman beside him. The comforter only slightly obscured her curves. The gold stitching seemed to echo the shimmer of her pale hair. Ever so gently he reached out to move a tendril of hair away from her nose.

Dawn was greying the sky outside when she finally woke. She blinked sleepy green-gold eyes and looked up at him, a smile curving her lips and bringing the dimple at the corner of her left cheek to life. Eventually she sighed, and stretched.

He watched with appreciation as her movments lowered the quilt.

"Well, Master Cosades," She said softly. "Do you ever actually sleep?"

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Of course. Nearly four hours last night. Rather excessive."

She reached up to touch the line of his jaw. "What might you be thinking of this morning, I wonder?"

He took her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to it. "I'm thinking of things less relaxing than continuing last night's conversation." He met her gaze. "I need you to go to Ald'run and talk to Serjo Garisa Llethri this morning. He's going to have a fairly breif window of opportunity to attempt control of the Calderan Ebony Mine." He considered thoughtfully. "Give her maybe four days to get there, and maybe another day and a half to do the job."

She wrinkled her delicate nose. "I need to arrive there today? Really?"

"Why do you think I warned you before you had anything to eat? You've told me how interesting it is to use guild guide travel."

She sighed. "Interesting in that feel-yourself-turned-inside-out and then become violently ill sort of way."

"Once you are done setting Llethri in motion, then go to Caldera and shadow Cunius Pelelius. Just surveillance. I'm instructing you to not do anything."

She tilted her head and looked up at him. "What you mean is that you want a reliable witness to something you expect him to do."

"True. However, you might keep in mind that while both he and young Tallis are quite magically skilled, he is an expert in illusion and she is not." He paused and then added. "I understand that Meanen, the company mage, also has an interesting skillset."

There was a moment of silence while she absorbed that. Her eyes narrowed. "Meanan." She said, and her tone seemed to lower the temperature of the room a few degrees. Her eyes flashed with anger, and her hands clenched into fists. "How long have you known?" She demanded.

"He is not your target."

"Caius how long have you known where he was?" Under the anger, he could see that she was hurt.

"Tallis will take care of him. Too much emotion gets in the way of doing the job."

She crossed her arms, and sat up, half turning away from him. "And you think from the way that she reacted that she doesn't feel emotional about what she sees happening in Caldera?"

"Tyrmallian," He said gently. "There is a difference between emotion and passion."

He reached out his right hand to touch her jaw. She deliberately moved away from his touch. Then she reached to her right hip to pull the blanket down farther. "I still have the scars." Her voice was bitter.

He put a gentle hand to her upper chest, and she looked down at it in surprise.

"The scars of your body are not the ones that most concern me." He said. "Tallis will finish him."

She slowly met his gaze. "You have a lot of faith in that little Breton."

He smiled. "I have a feeling."

She raised a pale gold eyebrow. "Humans do not get feelings." She emphasized the last word. "What are you now, an Ashlander?"

Even for him, his voice was serious when he answered. "I am what I need to be."

"And what if Tallis doesn't kill him? What if he gets away?" She didn't say 'again', but the word hung in the air between them.

Caius spoke simply. "I'm telling you to trust my assessment of Tallis."

"She's a child!"

"Who do you think two of those coins are going to be for?"

She frowned but said nothing, recalling the way the note about fire magic had been creased, as if crumpled while in the grip of strong emotion.

"He has more experience than she does." She said.

"I have a feeling." He repeated. Then after a moment he added. "When Tallis is done with this mission in Caldera, if Meanan survives, I will hunt him, I will find him and I will kill him."

She would have said something but he cut it off.

"And your hands will remain clean."

She shook her head. "I know that you have other things that take precedence."

He ran his hand along her temple, and then tucked an errant gold strand of hair behind her ear. "If he survives, I will make sure that it's not for long. That will be the end of it."

She bit her lip.

"Tyrmallian." He held her face gently with both hands and leaned forward, touching her forhead with his own. "I promise."

After a moment she nodded. Then she let out a long breath, as if letting go of something.

"And to your observations, if you think the situation needs assistance, you might call on Surane Leoriane; she's been preparing for something like this."

Tyermalllin rolled her eyes. "If I need incompetant assistance, certainly." She drummed her fingers on the quilt. "If ever there was an exception to the rule about Bretons being magically talented, she is it."

"Or you could approach Llaros Uvayn."

She raised poked him in the chest with one finger. "And exactly why would Llaros, in service to Hlaalu, help me with a job that clearly benefits Redoran?"

Caius leaned back against the head of the bed, arms folded behind his head. "If she could earn assistance in spiriting her cousin Galasa Uvaynout of Vivec in time to escape a warrent of excecution, she might be anemable to persuasion."

"Wha-" She shook her head and then smiling, she settled down next to him again. "How is it that you seem to know everything?" She didn't bother to pull the coverlet back up.

He turned to face her. "It's my job." Then he traced a fingertip along her arm, and then up along her shoulder. "For instance I know that Serjo Llethri never sees visitors until after nine in the morning. And despite it's disadvantages, guild guide travel is very swift."

She sighed with pleasure at his soft caress. "That gives me a little over four hours to prepare. Whatever shall I do until then?"

"I can think of a few things."


End file.
